The autonomous steering, braking, drive and balancing mechanisms differentiate this bicycle from other bicycles that need a rider.

NEW DELHI: Even as Google is testing its self-driving cars on roads, some engineering students from IIT Kharagpur have come up with a 'Make in India' innovation - a driver-less bicycle.

Inspired by the differently-abled batchmates in the campus, these students thought of developing an autonomous bicycle, 'i-bike'. In the recently held KPIT Sparkle 2016, an annual national design and development innovation contest for engineering and science students across India, these students exhibited the i-bike and took home the first prize. The theme of the competition was 'Smart Solutions for Energy and Transportation', where the i-bike idea won from among 1,700 other innovative ideas.

The autonomous steering, braking, drive and balancing mechanisms differentiate this bicycle from other bicycles that need a rider.

"This can make the life of a physically challenged person way better in terms of his/her commute from one place to other," said Ayush Pandey, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the department of electrical engineering at IIT Kharagpur.

If a person is an arm amputee, the autonomous steering would help him/her with the wheel chair or a tricycle or i-bike itself. If a person has lost his/her leg(s), then the autonomous drive would provide the required energy to move ahead while the person only steers the bicycle. "All these things are provided by the same i-bike due to its dual mode of locomotion in steering and driving. The user can choose as per his/her requirements," said Pandey.

This is how the bicycle works: The steering hub is modified using innovative gear mechanism that allows for both autonomous and manual mode with switching between the two provided by a latch mechanism. The balancing mechanism uses trainer wheel based torsional spring mechanism which is inventively developed in a way that it is retractable (allowing for easy switching between manual and autonomous modes).

The translation is provided by a hub motor in the rear wheel where autonomous gear based braking mechanism has also been installed.

The IIT students are in the process of applying for patent. "The application procedure would hopefully be complete in a few months," he said. The bicycle can also be used with a dedicated Android application developed by IIT Kharagpur students.